Phantoms beat Indians to take Legends crown.
Phantoms beat Indians to take Legends Crown
Written by Dennis Mahoney, dmahoney51@yahoo.com
Hard-throwing right-hander Kyle Davidson fired a five-hit shutout and made a first-inning run stand up for a 1-0 victory for the Kane County Phantoms over the Indians Sunday in the finale of the Legends of Summer wood bat tournament at the ETHS field.
Doubles by Josh Haugen and Sam Komel in the first inning, both coming with two outs, provided the only run Davidson needed in his complete game effort. Davidson struck out four and didn't walk a batter, and retired the first 10 hitters he faced.
The Indians, who also got a stellar mound performance from starter Jared Mandel, threatened in both the fourth and sixth innings but couldn't dent the plate against Davidson.
In the fourth, back-to-back one-out singles by Mark Lynam and Chris Maranto gave the Indians hope, but cleanup hitter Alex Letto --- who narrowly missed hitting a home run in his first at-bat --- bounced into an inning ending double play.
A bunt single by Ethan Andrews to start the sixth put the potential tying run on base. But Andrews was caught stealing when the next batter, Anthony Mack, missed on a bunt attempt. Mack did redeem himself with a subsequent single, but died at second when both Lynam and Maranto flied out.
Losing pitcher Mandel struck out seven and allowed four hits in his five-inning stint. The Phantoms did have a runner thrown out at the plate on a relay throw from Indians shortstop Maranto in the third to preserve the one-run deficit.
The Indians rallied for a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to edge the Northern Knights 3-2 in the semifinals. Kane County advanced with a forfeit win over the Norwood Blues.
